Tenley Louise || 1 Year Old

Dearest of all dear Tenley Louise's,

My beautiful little girl, you are ONE YEAR OLD now!  I can't even begin to try and tell you how much joy and love and excitement and peace and girliness you have brought into our lives!  I look at you still and absolutely can NOT believe you are here, my daughter!

I always imagined you'd be calm and quiet, reserved, maybe even shy but you are exactly the opposite of all those things!  You are wild and loud, an extrovert to the core and you are not afraid of anyone and make friends wherever you go!  Just yesterday at the grocery store you and an older gentleman struck up an instant friendship - every time we'd run across him in an aisle he'd make a little sound to you and you'd beam with the biggest smile!  Another lady caught your attention and made you scrunch up your nose with your smile!  You are the sweetest little Pink Princess of a baby I've ever met.

Yes, BABY.  You will always be my baby so you'd better get used to being called that!  Daddy told me this so you can blame him if you don't like it. :)


You are quite the talker!  Always babbling and singing your songs.  You say 'Da-di' and it sounds like you say 'Hi there' in your own little way.  You wave bye-bye very well, love playing peek-a-boo and will pull your arms up over your head to play but never cover your eyes which is so darn cute!  You have been clapping for months but you really get into it now!  You walk like a pro and even run sometimes - you never crawl!  You have figured out how to climb up on the kitchen chairs and try your hardest to climb up on the couch but you aren't quite tall enough to get there yet.

When playing your go to toy is your dollies!  Nora Jean gave you her Little Tikes Princess Castle and you like playing with that now, too.  You love looking at books and being sang to.  You give your dollies and stuffed animals kisses, talk about melting my heart!  Tate is your favorite playmate until he gets too rough.

Currently you have two teeth on the bottom but you are definitely working on those top teeth - they are puffy and swollen and hurt.  You had 4 shots at your check up yesterday and boy did you cry!  The kind of crying where you just can't seem to catch your breath.  You are still the cutest little crier and you can push out soap opera style tears at the drop of a hat ... do I see acting in your future? :)

You are constantly on the go and trying to keep you corralled at church is near impossible!  You have taken to screaming when you are tied down and don't like it so that's a lot of fun when everyone is praying.  Daddy is helping coach Aiden's basketball team so I am left to wrestle you all by myself on Sunday afternoons.  Luckily those games are quick so it's usually for only 30-40 minutes.  You give me quite a workout!

You are 100% on table food.  Each week you try something new.  This week you had your first hamburger and loved it!  Everything gets cut up into bite sized pieces and you feed yourself quite well.  We are transitioning to whole milk and sippy cups, both of those things are going fairly well.  You don't love the sippy cup but at least now you will finally drink from it - before you just chewed on it. You don't like being cuddled while drinking your milk anymore, that really breaks my heart.  I guess you are saying that you're a big girl now and to give you a little space. Sigh.
I would say chicken is your favorite meat, green beans your
 favorite vegetable and mandarin oranges and bananas share the top spot in the fruit category.  You tried lima beans that other day and that was a big fail!  Otherwise you are pretty happy eating whatever I make for you.

You had your first taste of sugar this past weekend with your birthday cake and I think it's safe to say you didn't hate it.  You didn't make a big mess with the cake, you were quite the lady.  I'm excited for Thanksgiving next week, you will love everything we serve and even get your first (tiny) slice of pumpkin pie!

You are so much fun to dress!  I have finally branched out from just pink, although pink is still the main hue in your closet.  You still have very little hair, although it's really filled in over your head, so we are still wearing strictly headbands these days.  Maybe by next Spring we'll get to try on your first barrette?!?  You do have one small spot in the back that is long enough for a tiny ponytail but Daddy thinks it'll look funny so I have yet to get the elastic out to try that.

Here are your stats for this month:
Weight: 20lb 15oz - 70th %
Height: 30.5" - 90th % (you've really stretched out!)
Diapers: size 3 Pampers
Clothes: still running the gamut here.  I have you in mostly 12mo but you are small enough to fit in 3-6m skirts, 9 mo dresses.  You are just a tiny peanut!

Happy happy first birthday, sweet girl!  May all your dreams come true, may your days be full of laughter and may you always always feel how loved you are!

Love always,
Mommy